Sand Fever
by HannahGallifrey
Summary: Kakashi has fallen ill with a disease known as 'sand fever'. what will team 7 do?
1. Chapter 1

Sakura haruno was starting to get worried. Team 7's leader, Kakashi Hatake, was habitually late, but he had never been this late before. add to that the fact that he had been coughing during training yesterday, and it was enough to make one worry, she thought. she turned to the rest of her team, to Sasuke Uchiha first, who looked unruffled as ever. in fact, he looked bored. Naruto Uzumaki, the third member of the team, had worn that expression over an hour ago, and now had a mischevious look as he searched for a way to entertain himself- or, as most people thought, a way to be annoying. finally, it was he who broke the silence.

'aww, where is he, anyway? he said 6, and it's past 9!'

sakura rubbed her forehead, grumbling under her breath about having to deal with such an annoying person. but the worry made itself known again, and she cleared her throat, making the two boys look at her. 'you don't think, maybe, he's sick, do you?' she suggested. 'he was coughing yesterday.'

Naruto only laughed at the thought. 'Kakashi-sensei sick? no germ would even get near him! I bet he'd see them coming and blast them with a jutsu before they even got close!'

sasuke scoffed. _what an idiot_ , he thought. 'maybe we should go see where he is,' he suggested aloud. 'we could practice our stealth training that way, and we aren't doing anything just waiting here.' Sakura nodded eagerly at the idea, and led the trio from the training grounds to a spot near kakashi's apartment, where they could see through an open window.

kakashi was sitting on the side of his bed, tying on one of his sandals, when the three genin stopped on the roof opposite to observe. he was almost finished tying the laces when a violent coughing fit made him double over, fists clenched, one in front of his mouth, the other clutching a handful of bedsheet. _not only is he sick_ , sakura thought in alarm, _he looks like he's in a lot of pain!_ after a few moments, he straightened up, finishing the laces of both sandals. he moved to stand up and swayed slightly, catching himself on the wall for a moment before straightening and heading for the door. naruto was a bit frightened at this sight. _kakashi-sensei can walk on a telephone cable as easily as a floor, but he's off balance. that can't be good._ the three debated whether to head back to the training ground or head for their mentor's door, but three became two as sasuke jumped down from the roof, ending their bickering. 'morning, sensei,' he greeted as kakashi opened the door.

'ah, sorry everyone, I guess I must have really slept in today,' the jonin commented, his one visible eye scrunching shut with amusement. naruto supposed he must be smiling, but how could you tell with three-quarters of his face covered up? 'how long have you been waiting? I didn't know you were here,' he continued, looking about at the faces of his students.

'only a little while,' sakura said. 'should we get going? I can't wait to see what we'll be practicing today!' naruto blurted, turning around, ready to head back to the training grounds.

it became apparent something was wrong as the day wore on. all three of the students surreptitiously watched their mentor through the rest of the morning. sakura was right, he was coughing regularly and more frequently, and chose to sit during much of the practice. when it came time to break for lunch, he moved away from them, on the pretense of reading his book, and headed for the tree line, jumping for a low branch, as he did quite frequently. both sasuke and sakura were turned toward him, and both saw he had been off-balance when he'd jumped, missing the branch completely and having to quickly grab a kunai and shove it into the tree trunk to keep himself from falling. it was only a small falter, but they both saw it, and by now even sasuke was starting to be concerned about their teacher.

the three students sat down to eat their lunch, every so often taking turns keeping an eye on their teacher, and it was naruto who shot suddenly to his feet, darting for the foot of the tree kakashi was in- or rather, had been in. he didn't have enough warning though, and was only able to break his mentor's fall instead of catch him properly. the other two were at his side in an instant. 'he's out cold!' sakura wailed in fright.

'calm down,' sasuke said, checking his pulse. 'he's still alive. we need to get him to the hospital.'

naruto quickly ran off, grabbing a pair of staves and one of the flags they'd been using for practice, lashing them together into a stretcher and bringing it back. the other two team members had flipped kakashi over and straightened him up and naruto stopped short, dropping the stretcher beside his teacher's still form. 'is that...blood?' he asked, nodding at the face mask their sensei always wore. it was covered in patches of dark reddish brown, hard to see against the black- had it been there, and they hadn't noticed?

the two boys quickly loaded kakashi onto the stretcher, carrying him to the hospital in their village, konoha, while sakura followed along behind, fists covering her mouth as she worried. when they got to the hospital, the matron took one look at kakashi and fetched two orderlies to take him to a room, shooing the three genin out again with a worried look on her face.

naruto was pacing on top of a roof with his teammates a couple of hours later. in fact, it was the same rooftop they'd been on just that very morning. he paused and said, 'you know what, I bet it's just the flu or something- he'll be fine by tomorrow, dattebayo!' sakura just let out a sigh and sank a little deeper, mouth covered by fists. sasuke was frowning, concerned- he knew it wasn't just the flu, though he didn't know what it really was.

the three were interrupted by the appearance of an orderly. 'matron says you're allowed to see-' he stopped talking as the three youngsters had already disappeared. 'you're not going to like what she has to tell you,' he sighed, turning to head back to the hospital himself.

naruto barged into the hospital's main room, demanding to see his sensei. 'this way, young man,' the matron said, coming through a door to their left. she motioned them through, taking the lead to a large room with a single bed. 'he's resting now, and I've tried to make him comfortable,' she said, looking sad.

'what is it, matron? what does he have?' sakura asked, eyes glistening with tears.

'something I'd only ever read about, and never actually seen,' the matron replied. 'it's called "sand fever", and almost all reported cases have occurred in that ninja village. it's rare, and difficult to get, which is a good thing.'

'well, it's not a good thing for him- he's already got it!' naruto pointed out heatedly. 'so how do you fix sand fever?' the matron looked down sadly, not replying. 'well?' he demanded as she stayed silent. 'matron, you can tell us,' sasuke added.

the matron swallowed and reluctantly replied, 'the scrolls talk of a cure- it's made from a certain herb that only grows near the sand village. but it's nearly impossible to obtain!' she said as naruto's eyes lit with hope.

'well, you can just doctor him and he'll get better on his own, won't he?' sakura asked timidly. wasn't that usually how diseases worked? but the matron shook her head. 'I'm afraid not. without the cure, the mortality rate is 100%.' sakura gasped, tears welling in her eyes. sasuke and naruto were likewise taken aback. 'you-you mean-' naruto stammered, unable to finish the thought. sasuke did it for him. 'he's going to die?'

'almost undoubtedly, without that herb, and there's no way for me to get it with such short notice,' the matron said, hanging her head in dismay and regret. 'in any case, you can see him now, though he probably won't wake up for a little while yet- keeping him sedated is the only way to slow the disease's progress.' she turned and left the room, leaving their view of their teacher unimpeded.

in just a few hours kakashi had changed rapidly, and not for the better. he had been a little flushed this morning, probably with a fever; now he was pale as death. the matron had taken away all the clothes he'd been wearing when he'd come in, as well as his headband, to be sanitized or burned if they had blood on them. noting his permanent sharingan, a nurse had put a bandage over his eye to cover it, and kakashi had at some point pulled the blanket up over his nose to cover his face, so you still couldn't see it. there was sweat beaded on his face and his hair looked extra-spiky with it. a damp cloth lay on his brow in an effort to keep him cool.

the three sat with him for a time, keeping vigil until near sundown, when a nurse came in and shooed them away, carrying something to keep their teacher sedated. they headed out, regrouping at sakura's house, where naruto began pacing again. 'we can't just let him die!' he said, footsteps rapid across the floor. 'matron said there's a cure. we have to go and get it and bring it back to her, and then he'll get better.'

'but naruto,' sakura objected. 'we're only genin. we can't just go off by ourselves, especially to another ninja village! it's dangerous. kakashi-sensei wouldn't want us to risk our lives for his like that. don't be stupid.'

'where'd he even get sand fever from anyway?' naruto demanded. 'she said it's only found in the sand village, and he hasn't been there in ages!'

'you know, naruto actually has a point,' sasuke said reluctantly. 'where could he have gotten it when we haven't been anywhere near the sand village? it could be someone gave him sand fever deliberately- it's just as effective as a poison and is difficult to cure.'

'EXACTLY!' naruto yelled, jabbing his finger at sasuke. 'that makes this a mission, and you never leave a team member to die! we have to get that cure for him, dattebayo!'

'well,' sasuke said, 'like sakura pointed out, we're only genin, and not authorized to travel to another land outside of official business, like missions. real missions,' he added as naruto opened his mouth to argue. 'there's no way they'd ever let us go.' he let out a sigh. 'you have to accept this is something you can't win, naruto.'

'we'll just have to make his last few days good ones, and show him how hard we can work,' sakura said, voice quavering as she wanted to cry.

'you can do that,' naruto blurted angrily. he jabbed a thumb at his chest. 'I'm going to save him, dattebayo!' he stormed out, heading to his own house.

'I don't like the sound of that,' sasuke muttered, standing up and nodding to sakura. 'I'll see you tomorrow for training.' sakura nodded, wiping the back of her hand across her eyes. 'six oclock,' she said, letting out a sad laugh. 'don't be late.'


	2. Chapter 2

'NARUTO'S GONE!'

the cry of alarm rang in sakura's ears- she'd never heard sasuke speak so loudly before. but this was certainly cause for alarm. the both of them had shown up at 6 o'clock sharp, as they did every morning, and immediately noted naruto's absence. knowing he wasn't a layabout, sakura went to the ramen shop while sasuke checked the hospital, then they both went to naruto's house when they didn't find him in either place. sasuke's eyes were wide in alarm, noting the absence of naruto's survival gear, and the fact that his bed was still made. he hadn't slept, probably too busy packing for his harebrained mission.

'sasuke, what do we do? he'll get himself killed out there alone!' sakura said, seeing the same clues as her teammate.

sasuke shook his head angrily. 'there's only one thing we can do now,' he growled. 'he's forced our hand. we'll have to go and get him back, and we'd better be quiet about it before anyone else notices he's missing.' he thought for a moment, then said, 'we'll meet back here in an hour with our packs, and leave just after sun-up. they won't expect anyone to sneak out in broad daylight, and we can't let naruto get too far ahead.' sakura nodded, and they both quickly left.

an hour later, sasuke and sakura headed out the main gate of the city, slipping past under the guards' noses. once they were far enough from the village, they left off sneaking and traded it for speed, covering as much distance as they could in as little time as possible. they knew they had to catch up to naruto before someone else did.

Naruto knew someone was following him by mid-afternoon, and he was almost certain he knew who it was, too. he quickly stopped, concealing himself in a nearby tree, and sending his shadow clones after his pursuers. sasuke, knowing they were clones easily, dispatched them with shuriken. seeing naruto trying to jump away to hide, both the others threw a kunai knife, and CHI-CHING! pinned him by his large white collar to the nearest tree, one knife just under either ear. naruto quickly reached to seize the knives and free himself, but CHI-CHING! he was stopped by another set of kunai pinning his sleeves, just out of reach. he struggled, growling and trying to free himself, angry that his teammates could be so heartless as to stop him from saving their sensei!

finally, sakura stepped forward and slapped naruto sharply across the face. 'what was that for!?' he demanded, wincing at the red hand-mark on his cheek.

'what were you thinking, running off like that?' sakura countered. 'you're not going to make it by yourself!'

'yeah? well, you guys weren't going to help me!' he blurted, struggling again. 'you just care about the rules. didn't kakashi-sensei teach you better than that?' he stared at sakura and sasuke in turn, pain clear in his eyes. 'the team matters most to him, and it should to us. what would he do if one of us got sick, or hurt, or captured?'

sasuke met naruto's eye for a moment, then looked away, seemingly guilty. 'he'd come after us, without a moment's hesitation,' he admitted, fists clenching. 'even if it meant breaking every rule there was to do it.' he looked to sakura, who looked a bit worried.

'but it's too dangerous for us!' she objected, almost wailing. 'we're only genin- there's no way we're going to make it!'

'maybe it is too dangerous. but naruto's right- we can't just sit here and do nothing. it's not what sensei would want.' sasuke stepped toward the tree where naruto was pinned and quickly removed the kunai, reholstering his own and holding the other two out to sakura. she took them numbly, putting them away, then nodded, seeming more firm.

'so,' naruto said, moving to take point, 'to the village hidden in the sand!'


	3. Chapter 3

'halt! who's there?'

it was the middle of the second day of their journey, and they'd reached the border between the land of fire and the land of wind. they had partly expected it to be guarded, but had seen no one until after they had crossed over. now, three ninja many years their senior blocked their path. naruto was already bristling at them.

'let us through! we have to get to the village, dattebayo!' he barked at them, and the ninja in the middle, wearing the sand village headband, laughed.

'do you really think we're going to let a set of leaf village punks like you through to our village?' he asked mockingly. 'go home, kids, you're not welcome here.'

sakura whimpered. 'but we have to! our sensei is sick, and without herbs, he'll die!' she exclaimed.

'sick?' the ninja on the left said thoughtfully. 'sick of what?'

'sand fever, the hospital says,' sasuke said solemnly. all three sand village ninja took a step back, fear in their eyes, looking the three genin over as if searching for something.

'you didn't get any of his blood on you, did you?' the ninja on the right demanded, eyes darting between the three of them. they all shook their heads.

'he keeps his face covered, luckily,' sasuke said, and the guards relaxed a little.

'well, I suppose Akio here can take you to the kazekage- he'll decide whether to give you the herbs.' the two other ninja stepped aside and the one who had been on the left, akio, took off, leaving them to follow.

'we haven't had a case of sand fever in more than five years!' the kazekage exclaimed when the three genin were brought before him.

'yeah? well, you do now!' naruto exclaimed, teeth bared in desperate anger. 'two days ago our sensei was coughing and off-balance, then he started coughing up blood and passed out. he's in the hospital now, and matron told us without the cure he'll die for sure!'

the kage nodded sadly, sitting back down. 'so it is sand fever,' he sighed, looking away. 'I had thought we were rid of it, but perhaps we never will be...'

'that's nice and all,' sasuke interrupted, 'but we need to get those herbs as soon as we can and get headed back to konoha- I think you know there isn't much time.'

he nodded, standing again. 'I'll take you to the herbalist myself- and you'd best to take a little extra with you. anyone who comes in contact with your patient's blood is at risk for catching the fever also.' he led the way out and down the street to the apothecary, run by a kindly-looking old woman named minto.

Minto explained all about the deadly disease while she rifled through piles and bins of herbs in the back store-room. 'there was an epidemic, oh, probably at least fifty years ago,' she began. 'we lost over a hundred people, and most of them were shinobi. it was called "genin fever" before we realised why they were most at risk- training left them with small cuts and scrapes, and sand fever is spread by blood-to-blood contact.' there was a sharp clatter and some shuffling, then she continued, 'we tried every herb there was, but it seemed we could only delay the inevitable, until finally someone found- ah.' having located the herb, she came out from behind the curtain with a handful cupped in her palms. 'a young child, still in academy, fell ill, and this was the last herb to try. in an effort to boost its strength, his entire clan pitched in, pouring their chakra reserves into the broth until it glowed a brilliant blue. after it was given to him, he recovered fully within hours. it's not a perfect cure, because it's so costly for everyone, but when the other option is certain death, it's worth the cost, I think.'

minto held out the handful of herbs for sakura to put them into a waiting bag, which she closed tightly and then clutched to her chest as though her life depended upon it. 'I wish you luck and good speed,' minto said, waving them out with the kage. 'the longest anyone's ever lasted when kept asleep is five days- you must hurry.' the three genin nodded and the kazekage gave sasuke, who he judged the most responsible of the three, a scroll.

'take this to your hokage,' he said, and sasuke nodded, tucking away the small scroll and taking off after the others.


	4. Chapter 4

'well, well, well, just look what we've found,' said a voice from above on the morning of the third day out. the three members of team 7 had stopped for a rest after the moon set the night before, and started out again with the sun.

'who's there?' naruto demanded, glaring up into the trees surrounding them. 'show yourself, cowards!'

'ooh, now that's not nice at all,' the voice observed. 'we'd better make sure they don't mistake us for cowards.' dark laughing filled the trees all around them, and suddenly three ninja leapt from the nearby forest to stand before them, weapons already drawn. 'tell us,' the one in the middle continued, 'how is your precious sensei? is he dead yet?'

naruto let out a growl, infuriated at the implication that these missing-nin had something to do with kakashi's potentially fatal illness. 'don't,' sasuke warned, meeting naruto's eye. _don't give them what they want, naruto. we can't afford any setbacks now._

sakura was glaring at them as well. 'are you saying you're the reason he's sick?' she demanded of the ninja who'd spoken.

he chuckled. 'it's better than poison, isn't it? harder to cure and much more painful- just what any konoha shinobi deserves.' he tossed his kunai from hand to hand playfully. 'go on then, avenge him. I know you want to.' he grinned mockingly.

naruto had watched as he'd tossed the knife and noticed it looked rusty, as if it hadn't been cared for. then, with a start, he realised it wasn't rusty at all- it was coated in a layer of dried blood. blood that was no doubt infected with sand fever, just waiting to kill them all. they couldn't risk a battle, he knew that now, but they had to get back to the village with the cure, and there was no way they'd let them pass.

just then, there was a faint whistle, and the ninja on the left suddenly collapsed. his two comerades turned to stare, seeing a shuriken embedded in his neck- he was dead before he'd hit the ground. 'there are more of you?!' the leader demanded, staring fearfully at the three genin. sasuke gave a tiny smirk, saying nothing. 'let's get out of here, I- what!' he turned to warn his other teammate too late, as he collapsed with a pair of senbon in his own neck, already dead. without another word, the leader leapt out of the way, a kunai parting sakura's hair as it flew past, right where the ninja's neck had been just a second before. a moment later there was a flicker of movement in the trees, and a masked person dashed past, sword in hand as he pursued their assailant. sasuke and sakura looked completely unnerved at the sight. naruto was awed. 'was that...an anbu?' he asked. sasuke nodded and sakura blurted 'let's just be glad he wasn't after us! come on!'

'but why else would he be here?' naruto wondered aloud as they started off again. 'he must have been sent to track us and make sure we didn't run into trouble or do something stupid.'

sasuke scoffed. 'I don't think the hokage thinks you're that important, naruto. anbu are sent after major criminals. you're just annoying.'

'yeah, but he happened to be there at just the right time- he had to have been tracking us,' naruto insisted.

sakura let out a whimper. 'can we just stop talking about this?' she asked. after all, if that kunai had been aimed an inch lower...she shivered involuntarily, checking her belt pouch for the five hundredth time to make sure the herbs were still safe.

'sure, but you know, I was just saying-'

'SHUT UP NARUTO!'

'oh all right then.'

they made good time, though they were starting to slow down just from physical exhaustion. it was almost sundown when the village gates came into sight, and they headed towards them with their heads down before sasuke looked up again and stopped, taking a step back and alerting the others. waiting at the gates, apparently for them, was, not one, but three anbu, an entire team! sakura recognised the one on the right as the one who'd been after the missing-nin that morning. he- or she?- stepped forward now, beckoning to the three bedraggled youths. they looked at each other, then, hanging their heads in defeat, stepped forward to the waiting anbu, assuming they were about to learn the true meaning of punishment for disobedience.

however, before they reached the three masked ninja, the one on the left started to laugh at their faces. 'you three look like you're off to be executed,' he remarked, and they looked up, confused. 'the hokage knew what you were doing, so he sent us along to keep you safe in case you ran into something you couldn't handle,' the one on the right- who was apparently a girl- explained. 'he wants to see you now, then you can take the herbs to matron,' the anbu in the middle told them. 'best hurry- time isn't your friend.'


	5. Chapter 5

'it's ready to be infused,' the matron said, stepping into the side room. the three genin looked up wearily- they had fallen asleep while matron worked through the night preparing the broth from the sand village herb. it was now the morning of the fourth day, a matter of now or never- it was clear their sensei was weakening fast.

sakura looked into the bowl of brown liquid skeptically. 'how are we ever going to put enough chakra in it?' she wondered aloud. 'minto said it took a person's entire clan to make the broth usable!'

'we'll just have to find a way, dattebayo! we'll save him ourselves if we have to!' naruto said, getting to his feet. 'come on, guys- we have to do this!' he took the bowl carefully from matron and set it on a low table, placing both his hands on the sides of it and nodding to the other two. sasuke and sakura stepped over and knelt down also, placing their hands and focusing hard, letting their chakra- their very life energy- flow out through their palms into the liquid in the bowl, which slowly began to glow a deep blue, then slowly, bit by bit, to lighten...

sakura was the first to give up, panting and exhausted. she let go the bowl, watching as the two boys continued to put all they had into it. it was close to the color of a dawn sky when sasuke could give no more, and finally naruto brought it just over the line before he was forced to let go, trembling with weakness. they slowly sat up and looked in awe at the broth, now a sparkling iridescent light blue, like the sky around the sun at noon. 'it's done,' sakura said, shocked. 'it's really done.'

'well, come on, we have to get it to kakashi-sensei!' naruto said, remembering the point of all their struggles. he staggered tiredly to his feet- it was mid-afternoon now- and picked up the bowl, swaying a bit as he headed for the hospital room.

as he walked toward the bed where his sensei lay near death, something tripped naruto- probably his own feet, he was too tired to tell- and a little of the shining liquid fell out and onto kakashi's chest before he could catch himself. naruto watched in shock as the liquid seemed to disappear, soaking into the pale skin. he knelt down beside the bed and realised his hands were shaking too bad to pour the broth without spilling it.

suddenly he was aware of other people in the room- sasuke and sakura had followed him in, and they now knelt on either side of kakashi, one hand under his head to hold it up, and the other steadying the bowl naruto held. slowly, carefully, a little at a time, they tilted the bowl, pouring the broth into their sensei's open mouth until it was all gone. naruto let the bowl clatter to the floor once it was empty, and the others sat back. 'now we wait,' sasuke said.

but they didn't have to wait long. it was less than a minute later and kakashi was suddenly thrashing, fighting to get up and away from something they couldn't see. the three of them were too weak to restrain him properly, so sasuke and sakura pinned down one arm each and naruto pinned kakashi down by laying bodily across his chest. after a few minutes, he subsided, and naruto, sasuke, and sakura, now completely exhausted beyond what they'd ever before experienced, lost consiousness.

when kakashi woke a couple of hours later, he was feeling much better. he glanced over to the side of his bed, seeing a set of his clothes there. the sun was just setting as he finished lacing his sandal and he glanced over to the other side of the room, a bit shocked to see his three students in apparent comas, and naruto with a bandaged, bloody nose. 'hmm,' he hummed, 'I suppose I'd better start asking questions. I think I've missed a few things.'


	6. Chapter 6

'yaaaaaaaaAAAAWN,' naruto sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. at first, he thought he was at home, and it was just about time to wake up and get ready to head out to training. he blinked and looked around, realising he wasn't actually at home. sakura was asleep beside him, and on his other side, sasuke was just starting to stir as well. he reached over to wake his teammate but sakura suddenly sat bolt upright, making him jump.

sakura looked to her right, to the other side of the room where kakashi's bed was- and saw it was empty, and his clothes were gone. 'he's gone!' she blurted, and sasuke sat up, startled.

'what?' he blurted, quickly getting to his feet. 'what do you mean, gone?' naruto exclaimed, getting up too.

'he's gone, and his clothes too! you don't think-' sakura said, covering her face with her fists. had they been too late? she could remember nothing from the time she'd lost the last of her chakra- had they done enough? she looked to the others, seeing similar concern- could none of them remember what had happened?

'no- he's got to have made it!' naruto said. 'he's got to- we did everything we could to save him.'

the door slid open and all three of them turned, gasping. in the doorway stood kakashi, completely his old self, his one visible eye scrunched shut with a smile. 'sorry I'm late,' he began. 'I meant to be-'

'KAKASHI-SENSEI!'

startlingly, all three members of team 7 jumped at him, hugging him tightly in relief that he was alive and well. 'you wouldn't believe what we went through to save you sensei,' naruto babbled. 'we had to go all the way to the sand village and some bad guys tried to stop us and then there were anbu and we got back here and we didn't know if it was gonna work but you're alive, dattebayo!'

'well, I guess that pretty much sums it up,' sakura muttered.

'I notice he left out how he ran off without us and we had to track him down,' sasuke commented, stepping back.

'well, it's about seven now,' kakashi observed, looking at the sun, low on the east horizon. 'let's get to training early today, how about that?'

'ooohhhhhhh!'


End file.
